Disclaimer: The Phantom of the Opera does not belong to me, only my own characters do.
Author's Note: Woo! Two chapters in one day! And I've got my ideas set for the next one already too!
Also if I get enough requests, I'll see if I can manage a picture of S'ray and Erik. But remember if you want to see it, you have to ask by writing a review *wink*.
Thanks to all who have read and reviewed; the more you review, the more I write. I plan to post a chapter every week, depending on how busy I am at work. I work at a call center and do my plotting when we're slow. Anyway, on with the show, the maestro has returned.
Phantom of the Glen
Chapter 6 - The Maestro Returns
"Now, I'm going to start simple," Erik said sitting down at the piano.
"O.K., what do you want me to do?" she asked.
"Just sing the first verse of Bonny Portmore," he said uncovering the keys. "Try to relax and pretend that I'm not even here. I won't say anything till you've finished."
"Do you want just the verse or the chorus too?"
"Both please and whenever you are ready."
S'ray took a deep breath and began, "O Bonny Portmore, I am sorry to see,
Such a woeful destruction of your ornament tree.
For it stood on your shore for many's the long day,
Till the long boats from Antrim came to float it away."
"Oh Bonny Portmore you shine where you stand,
And the more I think on you, the more I think long.
If I had you now as I had once before,
All the lords in Old England would not purchase Portmore."
Erik clapped his hands when she'd finished and said, "Very good, we'll start with some breathing."
"But I did breathe, otherwise I would have passed out," she protested.
"Yes, but you didn't breathe correctly for a singer," he explained standing up.
"So what should I do?"
"I'll show you," he said walking up behind her. "Now you were breathing from your chest which is natural but it doesn't support your voice when you sing."
"Alright," she nodded.
"However when you sing, you need to breathe from your stomach," he continued leaning forward a bit and putting one hand on her shoulder, the other on her stomach. "Now do just the first verse again, only try to breathe from your stomach. Sing it slowly, that will help. I want to feel my right hand move, but not my left."
S'ray took a deep breath and he felt her shoulder move under his left hand. "My left hand moved, start over," he commanded softly.
She took another deep breath. "Damn," she cursed realizing that her shoulders moved.
"Now this time, don't worry about singing, just breathe," he said breathing in the perfume of her hair.
"OK," she said closing her eyes and concentrating on how she breathed in.
"Good," he smiled, "now sing just the first line of the first verse."
"O Bonny Portmore, I am sorry to see."
"Was it easier to hit the notes that way?"
"Yes."
"Now take a breath and sing the next line."
"Such a woeful destruction of your ornament tree."
"Breathe and next line."
"For it stood on your shore for many's the long day."
"Keep going."
"Till the long boats from Antrim came to float it away."
"The whole chorus now and breathe at the end of each line."
"Oh Bonny Portmore you shine where you stand,
And the more I think on you, the more I think long.
If I had you now as I had once before,
All the lords in Old England would not purchase Portmore."
"The rest of the song please," he said straightening and putting his right hand on her other shoulder. "And remember, I don't want to feel your shoulders move when you breathe."
Erik closed his eyes and smiled as she sang, S'ray was a quick learner. He could still smell the flowery scent of her, even though he was standing straight again. His head tipped forward with the rhythm of the song, but kept his eyes closed because he knew if he opened them he'd be staring down S'ray's cleavage like he had at breakfast the other day. It wasn't easy being a gentleman when the woman was such a free spirit. "Very good," he said when she'd finished the song. "Was it easier to breathe as you went along?"
"Yes, it was and easier to sing the song too," she replied.
"As I said earlier, you need to support your voice to sing properly. Now, I believe it's your turn to teach me," he said removing his hands from her shoulders and stepping back to the piano.
"What kind of song would you like to learn?"
"What ever kind you wish to teach me."
"How about one we can sing together?"
"Sing it through for me first and then I'll join in," he nodded readying a pen, ink and paper.
"It's called 'The Fields of Athenry'," she said picking up her guitar and sitting on desk top. "By a lonely prison wall,
I heard a young girl calling
Michael they have taken you away,
For you stole Trevelyn's corn
So the young might see the morn,
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay."
Erik quickly wrote down the lyrics in his own method of short-hand as he mentally noted the music. The song would definitely sound better with a violin and guitar instead of the piano. He would ask to borrow S'ray's when she finished the song.
It was a fairly simple song, though very beautiful. He was pretty sure he knew what the man's part would be already.
"Now you'll sing the 2nd verse and we sing the chorus together for the rest of the song. I sing the first and 3rd verses, the first chorus and the last line," she explained.
"I've been thinking while you sang the song, it would be more fitting to use a violin than a piano. May I borrow yours?" he asked finishing up his notes.
"Of course," S'ray said sliding off the desk and bringing him the violin case. "It should still be in tune, but you'll want to check it anyway."
He opened the case and picked up the violin. "A very beautiful instrument," he complimented bringing it up to his chin. He settled it in place and pulled the bow across the strings several times, it was perfectly in tune.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Ready," he nodded and played an improvised 4 bar introduction to the song.
S'ray started strumming her guitar and sang, "By a lonely prison wall,
I heard a young girl calling
Michael they have taken you away,
For you stole Trevelyn's corn
So the young might see the morn,
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay."
"Low lie, The Fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing,
It's so lonely round the Fields of Athenry."
Erik pulled the violin from his chin and rested it on his shoulder, then he began his verse in his tenor voice. "By a lonely prison wall
I heard a young man calling
'Nothing matters Mary, when you're free'
Against the famine and the crown,
I rebelled, they cut me down
Now you must raise our child with dignity."
S'ray joined him in the chorus, "Low lie, The Fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing,
It's so lonely round the Fields of Athenry."
The violin was brought back up as they played the verse through on just their instruments. Then they joined their voices again on the chorus,
"Low lie, The Fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing,
It's so lonely round the Fields of Athenry."
It was incredible, he thought to himself, the way her alto blended with his tenor, it was almost like they had been singing together for years. He stopped his bow as she began the last verse.
"By a lonely harbor wall
She watched the last star falling
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky
For she lived in hope and pray
For her love in Botany Bay
It's so lonely round the Fields of Athenry"
He joined his voice with hers on the chorus, "Low lie, The Fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing
We had dreams and songs to sing,
It's so lonely round the Fields of Athenry."
"It's so lonely round the Fields of Athenry," S'ray finished with a mournful tone to her voice.
Erik sat back down at the piano and began playing the song again.
"That piano sounds wonderful since you tuned it," she sighed putting the guitar back on its stand.
"Especially since I dug that mouse nest out of it," he added stopping to jot music on to the staff paper in front of him.
"Mouse nest?"
"Yes, it was quite large, but I managed to get it all out."
Author's note: You can listen to the 'Fields of Athenry' on YouTube here - .com/watch?v=v9InnXP64To
Coming up in Chapter 7 – It's the Little Things That Get on Your Nerves.